"Set Fire to the Rain" is a song by English singer-songwriter Adele from her second studio album 21. Written by Adele and Fraser T. Smith and produced by Smith, the power ballad was released as the second single from the album around most of the world. It was released as the third single in the United Kingdom on July 4, 2011, where the song has so far peaked at number 11. The song has peaked at number one in Belgium, Poland and the Netherlands. The song has charted within the top 10 of Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland. In the United States, it was released as the third single off the album, and has peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the third single from the album which managed to top the charts. [1] Ironically, the song, which was one of the more successful from the album, almost didn't make the final track listing for the album, before several songs were cut. [2]

The song was featured in promos to the final season of Rescue Me, the series Ringer and the Stephen Emmett film The Bourne Dominion, in which the film has it being served as the film's theme song (as well as being played during the film's end credits). [1]

Contents

"Set Fire to the Rain" was written by Adele and Fraser T. Smith while the production was handled by Smith. Adele told The Sun: "Well, it's a bit like "Chasing Pavements", you can't do it. I was playing on my mind while I was trying to light a fag [cigarette] in the rain outside a restaurant." Adele later told Q magazine that the title came to her, "in the middle of the night when I got up for a wee…" [3] It was one of the first songs that Adele wrote for the record, and while it is personal to her, it was primarily intended to serve as a sort of "gay anthem" due to someone who she referred to as her best friend (presumably Laura Dockrill, who she has referred to as her best friend on many occasions) telling her "Chasing Pavements" was not enough of a gay anthem. [4] After saying this, she added that it was about tears and "burning the pain [of a past relationship] away", and described it as a song of "liberation". [5] Adele said that the song was "about the contradictions that are in relationships" in her "track-by-track interview" for 21. [6] On The Graham Norton Show, Adele jokingly said that the song "really doesn't make sense". [7]

Fraser T. Smith later opened up about the recording process of the track, stating:

“

Adele had just broken up with her boyfriend. She was in a vulnerable place and had brought her dog Louis along to keep her company. We started working from scratch on a song that would become 'Set Fire to the Rain', which reached number-one all over the world. Adele sat in the kitchen, drinking endless cups of coffee, smoking Marlboro Lights and scribbling down lyrics while I worked on the music. Meanwhile, her dog was growing restless, wandering round the studio, cocking his leg on everything in sight. Then I spotted him chewing through the cables and I thought, 'I’m in the middle of producing one of the greatest records of my career and this dog is going to blow the studio up.' Then the dog started crying while Adele was singing, but thankfully, he calmed down and came and sat on her lap. Some of the best takes we got were done with a sausage dog perched on her knee. [8]

On 28 October, during an interview with Billboard, Columbia Records revealed that "Rumour Has It" will be released as the third single from the album and serviced to pop and adult contemporary radio. However, the release of the song was scrapped and "Set Fire to the Rain" was released as the third US single on 21 November 2011. A spokesperson for Columbia, Pete Cosenza stated: "Our research found more programmer preference for 'Set Fire to the Rain'. [...] Both 'Rumour' and 'Fire' came back strong, but 'Fire' was a bit stronger. [...] It's a better plan to go with 'Fire' over 'Rumour' at pop and adult radio. [...] Everyone, from radio to the buying public, seems to be on board." [1]

"Set Fire to the Rain" is the fifth track on Adele's second album 21. It was written with producer Fraser T. Smith with whom she has worked on various tracks. It is written in the key of D Minor and Adele's voice expands from Bb3-D5. [9] The song describes the contradictory elements of a relationship, and the impossibility of letting go. One of the most pop-influenced of the album, the song is characterized by John Murphy of MusicOMH as a "power ballad". In contrast to the understated production of most songs on the album, the song features lush instrumentation and a swelling string arrangement over a mid-tempo rhythm, creating a wall of sound for the singer's mourning vocals.
Adele described the meaning of the song in detail during a track-by-track interview from 21, saying:

“

It’s about burning the pain and getting rid of it and demolishing it and it's sort of like a liberating song because you know when you break up and the other person who you’ve left or who has left you knows how much you love them and they try and make your life hell and make it so that you can never get over them by constantly being in touch? It’s kind of like that, and it’s about taking it into your own hands and just saying, ‘go away, fuck off.’

Although Adele had yet to release an official music video for the song, the video of the live performance of the song was released shortly before the release of Live at the Royal Albert Hall (in order to promote it) and has been shown on various music video channels, including VH1 and MTV. The fact that an official music video for the song had not been released yet has led to much speculation among fans. It was later confirmed on VH1's website that due to the fact that Adele was recovering from vocal surgery during the time of the single's release, the live music video of her performing the song would be released instead. [10]

An unofficial music video for the song was also released after being filmed by a group of students from Michigan State University. The video had included a critically acclaimed Michelle Meredith as the star, who has been commonly referred to as an "Adele Look-Alike". The video was directed by Andrew Vallentine, an aspiring director whose previous YouTube videos include that of an unnoficial music video for Lady Gaga's song "Monster". [11]

The song garnered generally positive reviews. A writer for the magazine URB said that the song had "starbucks-friendlier content" and further called it "melodramatic". Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly concluded that the song had "scorned-woman balladry" and it "surge[s] on the pure force of her titanic wail." While reviewing 21, a writer of The New York Times said, "the vocal effects on 'Set Fire to the Rain,' produced by Fraser T. Smith, the most pop-minded of the assembled team, are superfluous." John Murphy of MusicOMH gave a negative review towards the song calling it "real misfire" and "overproduced".However he added, "it's a decent enough song, but Adele's always sounded best when it's just a piano and a voice." Writing for the magazine Herald Sun, Camreon Adams called the song a "triumphant radio-hit-in-waiting of next single" and concluded that "once the chorus kicks in, you're a goner." [1]

Gary McGinley of No Ripcord highlighted "Set Fire to the Rain" calling it "the catchiest song" on 21. Another writer of Daily Herald said that Adele sounds "epic" on the song. Allison Stewart of The Washington Post found the song to be "galloping, out-of-place synth-rock number" and added that "even Adele can't save" the song. Nick Freed of Consequence of Sound said that "Set Fire to the Rain" finds Adele at "her strongest and most open."He further called the song "one of 21's angrier tracks" and concluded: "The chorus' hooks are crazy catchy, and by the final one Adele releases and her hurt slips through the anger to give you a damn real and forward show of emotion. I’d imagine seeing this song live or in a stripped down setting would make one bawl like a child. You’ll want to pump your fist and pound your chest. That’s a guarantee." Robert Copsey of Digital Spy praised the song saying, "'It was dark and I was over/ Until you kissed my lips and saved me,' she admits over a gloomy piano riff, before launching into a ballsy, hands-in-the-air chorus. 'I set fire to the rain/ and I threw us into the flames,' she belts with growly vocals against cinematic strings. Rounding out with a suitably breathtaking blast from her impressive pipes and the result sounds like classic, though it's anything but camp." [1]

"Set Fire to the Rain" has charted at many charts enjoying moderate success especially in Europe, where the song has charted within the top 10 of Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland and topping the charts in Belgium, Poland and the Netherlands. The song debuted at number 79 on the UK Singles Chart and it moved to number 44 the next week selling 6,286 copies. It later peaked at number 11 on the chart on the week ending 16 July 2011 and it stayed on the same position for two weeks selling another 24,978 copies. A Moto Blanco remix of the song received some airplay in Spain. Before being released as a single, the song has charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for 6 weeks and re-entered 3 times, peaking at number 72 on 13 September. As of January 2012, it has sold over two million downloads in the United States according to Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan. On the issue dated February 4, 2012, "Set Fire to the Rain" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Adele's third consecutive number one single from the album 21. With 21 also at number 1 on the Billboard 200, the song makes the set the first by a single artist to have led the Billboard 200 concurrently with three Hot 100 number one singles. It took 21 non-consecutive weeks for the song to reach the top spot in the United States. [1]

As of January 2013, it has sold 4.3 million digital downloads in the United States according to Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan. [1]

"Set Fire to the Rain (Thomas Gold Remix)" was released as the first official and most successful remix of "Set Fire to the Rain" on June 6, 2011. Another variation of it, entitled "Set Fire to the Rain (Thomas Gold Dub)", was also released and included on the EP. Thomas Gold remixed both the original remix and the Dub.

Thomas Gold's remix of "Set Fire to the Rain", as described by Billboard, "ups the song's original pathos to rave level, adding massive synth chords and breakdowns." The remix helped fuel the song's 11-week run on Dance Club Songs, where it peaked at No. 18. Gold, who is quite proud of the remix, has stated that Adele even approved his remix of the song.

“

XL requested it via my management. I was up for it immediately, as I loved the original track so much. Even Adele herself approved it. It was one of the most important remixes I've done so far and marked a breakthrough in my career, especially in North America, after it gained over [14 million] views on YouTube. It is still one of my signature tracks in all my DJ sets. Adele's voice is unique and simply magical. One of the reasons it works well in EDM is that it's a perfect contrast to artificial sounds and beats. Her voice always adds so much life and soul to a track. [12]

”

The mix was so omnipresent on the EDM festival circuit last summer that it could frequently be heard coming from multiple stages at the same time, from Electric Daisy Carnival to Ultra Music Festival. It was even a hit on SiriusXM station BPM. "Our listeners don't embrace every dance mix of pop songs," Geronimo, director of electronic/dance programming at SiriusXM, says. "However, the Thomas Gold [remix] is one that stands out and was a huge success for BPM."

The remix gave a boost to Gold's career and allowed him to achieve success in the US, despite the remix never being released here; according to Billboard, the song was only released in the UK.
The official video for the remix featured its official artwork, with "XL" for XL Recordings put on it. The video contains fan-shot camera phone footage taken from a club in Manchester, where the song was played.